Bank of Estonia

03/30/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/30/2023 03:56

Eesti Pank is starting to reissue the gold coins for the Livonian Diet

Eesti Pank is starting this week to issue replacement coins for the gold coins for the Livonian Diet that stopped being issued in the autumn because of a fault in production. The first to get the new coins as replacements will be clients who ordered them through the Omniva online store in the autumn. Unfortunately not everyone who bought a coin from the online store will get a replacement immediately, as not all of the second production batch were accepted by the Eesti Pank quality control test.

Omniva, which organises the supply of coins from the central bank to clients, is issuing the Livonia gold coins through its online store in the order that orders were received. The first orders from the online store will be completed this week, and orders will continue to be filled as the coins arrive in Estonia.

"I apologise on behalf of Eesti Pank to our clients that they have had to wait so long for their replacement Livonian Diet gold coins, and I especially apologise to those who are still waiting. We have been working with the producer to find various ways of solving the problem, but on this occasion we have not lived up to the expectations of our clients and we deeply regret that", said head of the Cash and Infrastructure Department of Eesti Pank, Rait Roosve. He added that future procurements of collector coins by the central bank will learn the lessons from this, though this clearly does not help the clients who have purchased the gold coin for the Livonian Diet.

Once all those who bought a coin through the online store have received their replacement coins, the new coins will start to be sold to all other purchasers as deliveries reach the central bank. Eesti Pank will at that point announce the procedure for further sales of the coins.

Eesti Pank has carried out visual assessment of all the coins being issued from this week and has not found any defects in them. If there should be any complaints about the replacement coins, please contact the Eesti Pank museum shop by email at [email protected] or by telephone on 668 0650. The Eesti Pank Museum shop is open from Tuesdays to Fridays 12-17 and on Saturdays at 11-16.

Eesti Pank thanks all the coin collectors who have shown understanding and patience while waiting for the replacement coins, and apologises again that the replacement process has taken longer than expected.

Background

Eesti Pank started to sell the gold collector coin dedicated to the Livonian Diet and minted by the Portuguese Mint in October last year, but marks were found on the surface of the coins, and sales were halted. Expert analysis ordered by Eesti Pank showed that the stains on the gold coins were caused by silver sulphide that had been resulted from a chemical reaction. When the defect appeared, Eesti Pank stopped the sale of the coins, and the Portuguese Mint started making replacement coins. The mintage of the gold coin for the Livonian Diet was 3000. Minting the replacements did not change that, and the mintage remains at 3000 coins. The coins are minted by the Portuguese Mint.

For further information:

Further information on the gold coin is available by telephone on 66 80 650 or by email at [email protected]

Inquiries from journalists:
Viljar Rääsk
Head of Communications
Eesti Pank
5275 055
[email protected]